Andrew Bunting on the Benefits of Urban Horticulture
Helping improve the health and wellness in the city through public horticulture programs
Urban horticulture has many benefits; Andrew Bunting is happy to share them
Andrew Bunting has perhaps the most comprehensive resume in horticulture. Over his career he has worked at a number of renowned botanic gardens and arboreta, joined many international plant-collecting trips and worked with internationally known gardeners. Currently he is the Vice President of Horticulture at the highly respected Pennsylvania Horticultural Society (PHS). He spoke with Scott Beuerlein about some of its initiatives.
Read the Full Article in our Winter Issue of Horticulture Magazine
An Interview with Andrew Bunting
Scott Beuerlein: The Pennsylvania Horticultural Society has a long and respected history. Tell us about it.
Andrew Bunting: PHS was founded in 1827. In 1829, the Philadelphia Flower Show started and more or less has run consecutively since then. The early flower shows were where new plants were premiered, including the poinsettia, making its debut in 1829.
It is now an event featuring 10 acres of large-scale, awe-inspiring gardens and floral exhibitions, constructed and designed by the world’s best florists, garden designers and landscape architects. The Flower Show is PHS’s largest fundraiser for our mission-driven work and generates over $60 million in economic impact for the City of Philadelphia.
SB: What is that mission?
AB: Our mission is to advance health and well-being in the Philadelphia region through horticulture. PHS bases its work on four impact priorities: Creating healthy living environments; increasing access to fresh food; expanding economic opportunity; and building meaningful social connections.
SB: What are some of PHS’s efforts towards that goal?
AB: PHS designs and maintains over 80 acres of public gardens and landscapes throughout the Philadelphia region, creating free and accessible-for-all gardens in public spaces. Among the many sites under this umbrella are historic and beloved public garden spaces such as Logan Circle, The Rodin Museum, The Philadelphia Navy Yard, Eastern State Penitentiary and more. These spaces serve multiple functions: providing beauty, serving as gathering places for the community and providing ecological benefits.
Related Article: Plan a Visit to Historic Longwood Gardens in Pennsylvania
Healthy Neighborhoods program
The Healthy Neighborhoods program umbrella includes a suite of programs that serve to create thriving, healthy, safe and sustainable communities. These program areas touch all four of PHS’s impact priorities and contribute to PHS’s core ethos of “Gardening for the Greater Good” with programs that tackle pressing environmental issues in communities.
PHS maintains a network of over 190 community gardens, which both increase local access to fresh produce and foster social connections among neighbors. And to support these gardens, PHS grows and donates over 250,000 produce seedlings each year, which are distributed across community gardens to foster a healthy growing season. PHS also provides access to gardening tools and resources, as well as a variety of workshops and trainings for community gardeners. As a result of this program, thousands of pounds of organic, local and culturally relevant produce are grown and donated to community members in need.
PHS uses gardening and landscaping to clean, green and maintain vacant lots across the Philadelphia region. Known as PHS Philadelphia LandCare, our team replaces waste with grass, trees and plants in 13,000 lots to develop green spaces in urban areas. These spaces create lasting benefits including decreased gun violence, improved mental and physical health and greater socioeconomic prosperity at the neighborhood level.
The PHS Tree Tenders
SB: And you have a tree planting and care program as well?
AB: The PHS Tree Tenders program provides comprehensive training and education to neighborhood volunteers in how to plant and care for trees in their communities. Through planting over 2,000 trees each year, PHS Tree Tenders contributes to developing a vital tree canopy.
A healthy tree canopy for an urban environment is considered 30 percent. Philadelphia averages only 20 percent, with some neighborhoods’ tree canopy as low as just 2.5 percent. Since the program’s fruition in 1991, over 35,000 trees have been planted throughout the Philadelphia region, and over 6,500 community members have been trained in how to plant and care for street trees in their neighborhoods.
SB: And these programs provide jobs for the community, too.
AB: Yes! PHS’s Workforce Development program provides job training and hands-on work experience for individuals with barriers to employment, including returning citizens. Through participation in this program, people receive training in green-industry job areas and earn the certification necessary to work in fields such as horticulture, landscape maintenance, greenhouse operations and carpentry and masonry, along with ongoing job placement support.
Improving health and wellness in the community
SB: All this for the improved health and well-being of the people of Philadelphia. How is that measured?
AB: PHS partnered with the University of Pennsylvania to study the health and well-being impacts of cleaning and greening vacant land parcels through the PHS LandCare and Workforce Development programs, as well as the many scientifically proven and tangible benefits of gardens in public spaces. Residents living near greened lots reported significant reductions in feelings of depression, and gun violence dropped by 29 percent near greened lots. Increased physical and mental health benefits, lowered rates of violence and increased feelings of safety are just some of the ways that greening is proven to help communities.
SB: In your view, what might home gardeners, with their skills and passion for plants, do to improve their own communities?
AB: It is as simple as getting involved. Someone just the other day said to me, “I am sure you don’t have any free time to volunteer.” Nothing could be further from the truth.
In my little town of Swarthmore, I am the soon-to-be president of the Swarthmore Horticultural Society. We maintain 14 public gardens. I design and maintain a garden at the War Memorial. I am the chair of the Swarthmore Tree Committee. And I also serve on Bird Town Swarthmore, and I am active with the Environmental Advisory Committee. A group of us are now leading a charge to “Free the Trees,” where we cut ivy off trees around town.
Get involved with your community
There are many opportunities to get involved with plant societies, volunteer at a community garden or help plant street trees in the spring or fall. One of our Gardening for the Greater Good principles is to “adopt a sharing mindset.” This could be teaching gardening skills or mentoring a student, or it can be as simple as sharing produce or a bouquet of flowers with your neighbors. Every minute counts, so just get involved!
See the Philadelphia Flower Show in 2026!
Taking place at the Philadelphia Convention Center, the 2026 PHS Philadelphia Flower Show will run from February 28 through March 8, with a preview for Pennsylvania Horticultural Society members on February 27. Carrying a theme of “Rooted: Origins of American Gardening,” this year’s show will incorporate the diverse traditions that play into how we create and enjoy gardens.
